An international Symposium of Ombudspersons was held yesterday in the Turkish capital of Ankara by the country’s recently launched Institution of Chief Ombudsman, with the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey taking the opportunity to underline the need to guarantee the right to protest, clearly referring to the recent Gezi unrest, Hürriyet Daily News reports.
“The right to hold demonstrations and protest is an important right. Within legal regulations, these must be underlined. Everybody wants to feel that their lifestyle is under guarantee. The majority has the duty to consider the status of the minority. At this point, after the inspection conducted by Interior Minister Muammer Güler, the use of disproportionate force [by the police] was detected in the protests and we think steps will be taken about this,” Ria Oomen-Ruijten is quoted as saying.
